Our Queer Leather Community
may not be dying off, but millions of innocent creatures are still
slaughtered each year in order to sate vanity's hunger! This queer vegan
has never been able to wrap his head around the concept of butchering
countless animals in the name of charity, to save countless other
(human) animals. Why must such pointless carnage continue, when there
are compassionate alternatives that will NOT impact fund-raising in any
negative way? In fact, the excellent karma to CEASE this slaughter will
most likely INCREASE the funds gained.

The etymology of word "animal" derives from the Latin "anima," which
means "a living being, a soul". These dear souls deserve BETTER than
their present treatment of mass confinement, terror and murder. NO ONE
in this nation is unaware these days, of the ugly torment (in so many
ways) that is part and parcel of our animal factories...whether to
produce food OR garment. I find it ABHORRENT that brazen vanity is the
only justification for their slaughter.

Why is our LGBT Community even PARTICIPATING in this animal holocaust,
when we can easily switch to synthetics? Granted, there are issues of
pollution and global slave labor when it comes to mass production of
ANY clothing, but at least we'd eliminate the senseless death of Gaia's
beloved fauna. Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. are all
delightful creatures whose innocence give us joy, friendship, and
protection...if only we care enough to love them back, or even simply
LIKE them.

It is clear to me that this leather fad took off as a clever marketing ploy BY the leather industry,
to grab a chunk of the lucrative gay market. Sadly, they succeeded, at
the cost of much innocent life...just like the alcohol and tobacco
financiers preceding them.

Imagine our Leather Community switching to SYNTHETIC versions.
They could take PRIDE in the scent of "pleather" as a bold olfactory
statement that no animal was killed in their social and charitable
endeavors! While one's duds may not SMELL like leather (though I'm sure
this, too, can be rectified through modern chemistry: maybe Liz Taylor
could take a crack at it), one can still DRESS like leather, LOOK like
leather, and ACT like leather. The parties, the events, the charitable
causes will continue as usual, with the added grace that zillions of
Goddess's creatures were SPARED from the slaughterhouse.

In these right-wing times when eating meat is seen as a sign of
Amerikan patriotism (and those who don't are called commies or worse),
it is especially difficult to speak out against these needless
killings, whether for food, sport, or clothing. I'm sure I'll take a
lot of flack from various bar patrons who read this letter...but I have
grown tired of quietly sitting back, derided and excluded simply for
not wearing leather.

Perhaps I take this all a bit too personally, for my Lakota name IS
"Little Pony". Then again, perhaps I am so named in order to speak out
against this global massacre
of the Truly Innocent: our long-suffering brothers and sisters who've
been tending this planet long, long before we humans ever arrived.